


Stop

by LeChatRouge673



Series: Canon Verse Stories and Wanderings [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 22:09:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14882130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeChatRouge673/pseuds/LeChatRouge673
Summary: Prompted fic for @poweredbycoffeeandwine: Could I please get "Stop" for Cat x Nathaniel??? Verse of your choosing, though I have a fondness for your canon fics featuring them.





	Stop

“Wildflower, stop. Please, talk to me.”

Cat sighed, but the worry lacing her husband’s plea was enough to make her pause in her pacing. “I am not sure what to say, Nate. I keep thinking I have moved past all this; that I am finally able to put what happened behind me, only to have to come back to haunt me.” She turned back towards the targets set up down range and nocked another arrow, taking a deep breath before loosing it and watching it bury satisfyingly deep in the straw. Nathaniel came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“I take it that whatever was in the letter you received was not good?” He asked softly, turning her in his arms so that she was facing him. Cat set aside the bow and sank into his embrace.

“No idea,” she admitted. The letter in question was now only so much ash in their bedroom fireplace. She had watched it burn with quietly smoldering anger of her own, but she had found no solace in the glowing tendrils that sprang forth from the parchment as it was consumed. Instead, only bad memories and doubt had risen. “I have not read any of his letters for several months. I have no desire to forgive him any more than I suspect he does for me.”

“Oh, Cat.” Nathaniel pulled her tighter against his chest, stroking her hair. “I am sorry. You know, I am sure if you asked, Varel would simply burn those for you before you even have to deal with them.”

“I spoke with him this morning.” Cat stepped back so that she could look up and face him. “Nathaniel?”

“Yes, Cat?”

“Tell me I did the right thing?” She hated the quaver in her voice, but if she could air her doubts and frustrations to anyone, it was him.

“Wildflower.” Nathaniel cupped her face in his hands and leaned down to press a long, soft kiss against her lips. When they parted, he whispered in her ear. “You did the right thing. You made the best of an absolutely horrendous situation. And if you expect for one moment that I am going to tell you that sparing Loghain’s life was a mistake, then you are going to be disappointed. Nor will I tell you that you somehow made an error in judgement by leaving Anora, who is talented, capable, and intelligent, on the throne instead of granting it to a man who only decided he wanted it after you refused to kill her father.”

Cat somehow managed a small smile. “Are you certain you are not simply saying that because I am your wife and you love me? Or maybe because you are afraid of what your best friend will do if she hears you said otherwise?”

“I do love you, and I do have a healthy fear of Thea’s wrath, but neither of those things inform my opinion,” he laughed softly.

“Good to know.” Cat took his hand as they left the archery range, wandering in the general direction of the gates and the meadows that lay beyond. “I tried, Nate. I tried so hard to do what was right; what would prevent the most pain and suffering.”

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I know, my love. Cat, even when I found out… even when I knew what had happened with my father, I knew you had to have had a reason. I knew there had to be more to the story. You have the gentlest heart of anyone I think I have ever met, and there is not a cruel bone in your body. But every war has its casualties. Not only deaths, though Maker knows you had to endure more than you should have in that regard as well.”

Nathaniel paused, and Cat could tell he was considering his next words. She had told him everything that had happened during the blight, but it was not something they spoke of often. He was always there to comfort her after the nightmares, and sometimes she was able to bring herself to tell stories about the happier times she had spent with her companions, but for the most part they tried to leave the horrors of that time behind. When they reached the edge of the woods that bordered the meadow, he sat down at the base of a particularly sprawling tree and reached his arms out to her. Once she had settled down beside him and rested her head against his shoulder, he finally spoke again.

“You were expected to be a leader. You were thrust into the position with no warning, no preparation. Your companions looked to you to make decisions that would shape Ferelden and, possibly, all of southern Thedas. You were impossibly brave and compassionate in the face of terrible odds, and you saved a great deal more than anyone could have ever asked of you. And it makes me more than a little angry that some people could not respect those choices even though they put you in that position in the first place.”

Cat gave a small sigh, but her heart felt lighter than it had since the letter had arrived that morning. She tilted her head up so that she could brush a kiss against her husband’s cheek. “Thank you, Nate,” she murmured. “That is exactly what I needed to hear.”

“Any time, Wildflower,” he smiled down at her. “Feel better?”

“Much,” she nodded. “In fact…” She stood and placed a hand on one hip. “Despite the fact that it is absolutely gorgeous outside today and my mood finally matches the weather, I think I would very much like to go back inside. Back upstairs, specifically.”

“Is that so?” Nathaniel asked, his eyes catching hers with the type of look that always promised he was going to leave her breathless and trembling in the very near future. “In that case, we had best get you out of the sun, shouldn’t we?”

Cat allowed herself to smile.

“That we should.”


End file.
